As the falling rain pings against my window here in North California, I am relieved that it will alleviate some of the shortage of stored water predicted for this upcoming usage season in California. Dramatic reductions in water delivery, especially to Central Valley agriculture are very likely. Those in the cattle business are lamenting what has been the shortest rainfall during this area’s winter months, [January being one of the driest on record in California] for as long as they can remember, with grazing lands short of foliage and already starting to turn to the summer brown. These rains in recent days can only help.
What else would help is some real action by humans on providing for their own water needs. Relying on rain dances, good luck, or if you’re the 1948 Boston Braves with only 2 reliable pitchers for a 7 game World Series, "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain", we can ask for Divine intervention every rain year and do nothing with our God-given abilities to help ourselves.
Governor Schwarzenegger has made a firm commitment to building above ground water storage in this state, something we used to do, and do well. Of course many Californians now enjoy and rely on in their day-to-day lives water from that vision and forethought that produced our state and federal water projects.
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